Children and Families Affected by Armed Conflicts in Africa: Implications and Strategies for Helping Professionals in the United States aims to enhance the awareness and knowledge of helping professionals who work with children and families who have experienced armed conflict in Africa. It draws on the experiences of working practitioners with populations affected by armed conflicts, specifically in Uganda and Rwanda.
In this book, you will hear from African practitioners discussing the political, economic, cultural, social, and spiritual elements of life that have been affected by war. It is timely, in that an increasing number of people have immigrated from Africa since the early 1900s as a result of the impact of armed conflict on their lives and families.
This book is unique in that it connects the issues of children who have been exposed to armed conflicts in several African contexts to the U.S. practice arena, reflecting on the interventions being used in Africa and their applicability in this country. The content is relevant for those agencies and public education systems providing services to immigrant and refugee populations from Africa.
Children and Families Affected by Armed Conflicts in Africa is an impressive and timely addition to the social work and mental health literature. The book integrates research, concepts, and practice wisdom from multiple cultures to provide lessons that promote culturally and contextually relevant practice interventions. Drawing on her many years of engagement with child soldiers in Northern Uganda, editor Joanne Corbin's work extends our understanding of trauma and resiliency. Corbin's introductory and concluding chapters provide coherence to an excellent mix of chapters authored by African and American mental health experts. The book focuses on children and families affected by conflicts in Africa, especially Uganda and Rwanda, but should be widely read by those interested in culturally competent response to persons who have experienced violence and trauma in any setting.
Lynne M. Healy
Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor
University of Connecticut School of Social Work